Multi-value mapping for object store

ABSTRACT

A method for mapping an object store may include storing a data entry within a mapping page for an object in the object store, wherein the data entry may include a key and a value, and the value may include an address for the object in the object store. The method may further include storing multiple data entries within the mapping page for multiple corresponding objects in the object store, wherein each data entry may include a key and one or more values for a corresponding object in the object store, and each value may include an address for the corresponding object in the object store. The data entries may be part of a mapping data structure which may include nodes, and each node may be stored within a mapping page.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority to, and the benefit of, U.S.Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/958,303 titled “Apparatus andMethod to Provide Persistent Multi-Value Mapping Services” filed Jan. 7,2020 which is incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND 1. Field

This disclosure relates generally to object stores, and morespecifically to methods and apparatus for mapping an object store.

2. Related Art

An object based storage system may include a mapping layer or servicethat maintains a mapping data structure to map objects to physicallocations in storage. The mapping data structure may include addressesfor the physical locations at which the objects, including multi-valuedobjects, may be stored.

SUMMARY

A method for mapping an object store may include storing a data entrywithin a mapping page for an object in the object store, wherein thedata entry may include a key and a value, and the value may include anaddress for the object in the object store. The value may be a firstvalue, and the address may be a first address, the object in the objectstore may include a multi-value object, and the data entry within themapping page may include a second value, the second value including asecond address for the object in the object store. The mapping page maybe stored in persistent storage. The mapping page may be maintained involatile memory during a run-time. The data entry may be a first dataentry, the object may be a first object, the method may further includestoring a second data entry within the mapping page for a second objectin the object store, the second data entry may include a key and one ormore values for the second object in the object store, and the one ormore values for the second object may include one or more addresses inthe object store. The keys may be stored in contiguous locations in afirst region of the mapping page, and the values may be stored incontiguous locations in a second region of the mapping page. The methodmay further include storing multiple data entries within the mappingpage for multiple corresponding objects in the object store, whereineach data entry may include a key and one or more values for acorresponding object in the object store, and each value may include anaddress for the corresponding object in the object store. At least twoof the keys may be stored in contiguous locations in a first region ofthe mapping page, and at least two of the values may be stored incontiguous locations in a second region of the mapping page. The firstand second regions may be arranged to advance in opposite logicaldirections within the mapping page as keys and values are added to themapping page.

The data entries may be part of a mapping data structure. The mappingdata structure may include nodes, and each node may be stored within amapping page. A first one of the nodes may include a data node, and thedata node may include data entries for objects in the object store. Asecond one of the nodes may include an index node, the index node mayinclude an index entry, and the index entry may include a key and avalue, wherein the value of the index entry may point to the data node.The index node may be a first index node, and the index entry may be afirst index entry, a third one of the nodes may include a second indexnode, the second index node may include a second index entry, and thesecond index entry may include a key and a value, wherein the value ofthe second index entry may point to the first index node. A first one ofthe nodes may include a hybrid node, and the hybrid node may include adata entry for a corresponding object in the object store. The hybridnode may include an index entry, and the index entry may include a keyand a value, wherein the value of the index entry may point to a secondone of the nodes. The method may further include traversing the mappingdata structure to access a data entry for a corresponding object in theobject store.

A method for mapping an object store may include maintaining a mappingdata structure comprising key-value entries, wherein a first one of thekey-value entries may include a data entry including a key and a value,the value comprising an address for an object in the object store, andthe data entry may be stored within a mapping page. The mapping datastructure may include a tree structure having nodes, and each node maybe stored within a mapping page. A second one of the key value entriesmay include an index entry including a key and a value, the valuepointing to the mapping page in which the data entry is stored.

A mapping system for an object store may include a processor configuredto store a data entry within a mapping page in persistent storage for anobject in the object store, wherein the data entry may include a key anda value, and the value may include an address for the object in theobject store. The system may further include a paging manager configuredto manage the mapping page.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The figures are not necessarily drawn to scale and elements of similarstructures or functions are generally represented by like referencenumerals for illustrative purposes throughout the figures. The figuresare only intended to facilitate the description of the variousembodiments described herein. The figures do not describe every aspectof the teachings disclosed herein and do not limit the scope of theclaims. To prevent the drawing from becoming obscured, not all ofcomponents, connections, and the like may be shown, and not all of thecomponents may have reference numbers. However, patterns of componentconfigurations may be readily apparent from the drawings. Theaccompanying drawings, together with the specification, illustrateexample embodiments of the present disclosure, and, together with thedescription, serve to explain the principles of the present disclosure.

FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment of a system and method for mapping anobject store according to this disclosure.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example embodiment of a data node according tothis disclosure.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example embodiment of an index node according tothis disclosure.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example embodiment of traversal operation througha mapping data structure for an object store according to thisdisclosure.

FIG. 5 illustrates another example embodiment of traversal operationthrough a mapping data structure for an object store according to thisdisclosure.

FIG. 6 illustrates another example embodiment of a mapping datastructure for an object store according to this disclosure.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example embodiment of a system for mapping anobject store according to this disclosure.

FIG. 8 illustrates an embodiment of a computing system according to thisdisclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A mapping data structure for an object store according to thisdisclosure may maintain a mapping data structure to map objects tophysical locations in persistent storage such as storage class memorylike persistent memory (PMEM), a non-volatile dual in-line memory module(NVDIMM), and/or cross-gridded memory with bulk resistance change, aswell as hard disk drives (HDDs), solid state drives (SSDs), any clouddata storage instances (including highly available cloud data storageinstances), any cloud databases, and/or the like. A mapping datastructure may itself be stored in persistent storage, for example, topreserve an application's data and/or state across power cycles. Amapping data structure for an object store according to this disclosuremay be updated to reflect changes to the objects in storage. Forexample, the mapping data structure may be updated if an additionalvalue for a key is added to an object, e.g., to implement objectversioning. The mapping data structure may also be updated if data isappended to an object, or if a new object is added to the object store.However, for a mapping data structure stored in persistent storage,making changes to the data structure may result in random reads and/orwrites to the data structure. This may cause read and/or writeamplification in a storage drive on which the mapping data structure isstored. Read and/or write amplification may reduce the lifespan,reliability, and/or performance of a storage drive. Moreover, a storagedrive may not be performant for random read and/or write workloads, andtherefore, accessing a mapping data structure in persistent storage maynegatively impact the latency of input/output (I/O) operations for theobject store.

Some of the principles of this disclosure relate to techniques forimplementing mapping data structures for object stores in which an entrymay have a key and one or more values that are stored on the same page,for example in persistent storage. Storing a key and one or more valueson the same page may, for example, reduce read and/or writeamplification and/or improve VO latencies and/or performance.

Some additional principles of this disclosure relate to the use of oneor more performant data structures to implement efficient indexingand/or traversal of the data structure, the use of mapping page layoutsthat may be favorable for applications and/or storage devices, the useof mapping pages that may be stored in persistent storage and alsoloaded in volatile memory during run-time, and/or other techniques asdescribed in more detail below.

FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment of a system and method for mapping anobject store according to this disclosure. The embodiment illustrated inFIG. 1 may include an application layer 100, a mapping service or layer102, and an object store 104. The application layer 100 may includeanything that may use the mapping service 102 to map objects to theobject store 104. Examples include applications, drivers, kernels,databases, file system, and/or the like, which may be referred tocollectively as applications. The object store 100 may be implemented inany form including individual object based storage devices such askey-value SSDs, an object storage platform that may implement an objectstorage layer on top of block storage devices, a distributed objectstorage system such as a storage area network (SAN) with object storagenodes (OSNs), a cloud based object storage service, and/or the like. Insome other embodiments, the mapping service 102 may map objects to morethan one object store 104. In yet other embodiments, multiple mappingservices 102 may map objects to one or more object stores 104.

The mapping service 102 may include a mapping data structure 106 havingentries 108. Some embodiments may include different types of entriessuch as data entries, index entries, hybrid entries, and/or other typesof entries. In some embodiments, each entry 108 may include, forexample, a key and one or more values. A key may be implemented, forexample, as an actual key, or a copy or replica of an actual key, of anobject in the object store 104, as an object identifier (OID), as a hashof a key, and/or in any other manner. In a data entry, a value mayinclude, for example, an address for an object in the object store 104.In a data entry for a multi-value object, multiple values may include,for example, multiple addresses for the object in the object store 104.As another example, in an index type of entry, a value may include apointer to another entry 108 and/or collection of entries 108. As yetanother example, a hybrid entry may include multiple values in which oneor more of the values may include one or more addresses for an object inthe object store, and one or more values may include one or morepointers to other entries and/or collections of entries.

In some embodiments, an entry 108 may be stored within a page ofpersistent storage as described above. In some embodiments, a page mayrefer, for example, to a page of flash memory in an SSD, and/or anyblock or other unit of persistent storage that may be accessed as aunit. Depending on the implementation details, maintaining the contentsof an entry (e.g., a key and one or more values) within a single pagemay reduce random reads and/or writes and/or read and/or writeamplification. In some embodiments, multiple entries may be stored in apage.

In some embodiments, the mapping data structure 106 may be implementedwith one or more data structures such as hash tables, radix trees,B−trees, B+trees, and/or the like. Depending on the implementationdetails, the use of such data structures may, for example, provideefficient indexing techniques that may enable efficient or optimaltraversals of the data structures to locate entries (e.g., keys andvalues) in the mapping data structure.

Some data structures, for example, tree structures, may include nodes orbuckets. In some embodiments that use a mapping data structure withnodes or buckets (which may be referred to collectively as nodes), anode may include one or more entries. Moreover, a node may be storedwithin a page, and thus, any entries within the node may be storedwithin the same page. In some embodiments, each node may be storedwithin a dedicated page. In other embodiments, multiple nodes may bestored within a single page and/or a node may be spread over multiplepages. In some embodiments, a node may include entries of all or mostlyone type. For example, nodes that may include all or mostly dataentries, index entries, or hybrid entries may be referred to as datanodes, index nodes or hybrid nodes, respectively. In some embodiments, apage may include all or mostly one type of node and/or entry. Forexample, mapping pages that include all or mostly data, index or hybridnodes and/or entries may be referred to as data, index and hybrid pages,respectively.

In some embodiments, all or one or more portions of a mapping datastructure 106 may be maintained in volatile memory such as dynamicrandom access memory (DRAM) at various times. For example, the entiremapping data structure 106 may be stored in persistent storage tomaintain an application's data and/or state across data and/or resetcycles. However, one or more portions of the mapping data structure 106may be moved to, and/or replicated in, DRAM during a run time, forexample, to provide faster access to the mapping data structure, and/orto reduce random reads and/or writes to and/or from persistent storage.The one or more portions of the mapping data structure 106 in DRAM maybe copied or moved to persistent storage as part of a power-down orpower loss process.

FIGS. 2 through 6 illustrate some example embodiments of methods andapparatus for mapping an object store according to some principles ofthis disclosure. For purposes of illustration, these embodiments may bedescribed in the context of systems that may use a tree structure for amapping data structure and nodes that may be implemented as pages inpersistent memory. However, the inventive principles of this disclosureare not limited to these or any other implementation details.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example embodiment of a data node according tothis disclosure. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2, the data node110 may be implemented, for example, as a page in persistent storage.The data node 110 may also be maintained in volatile memory such asDRAM, for example, during a run-time. The data node 110 may be locatedat the end of a tree type of mapping data structure and thus it may alsobe referred to as a leaf node or leaf page.

The layout of the data node 110 may include a page header 112 which mayinclude, for example, metadata about the page such as the page addresson a storage device, the number of keys or entries in the page, thelevel of the page in the mapping data structure, and/or the like. Theremainder of the page may be dedicated to data entries which may besingle-value and/or multi-value entries. A first data entry may includea key Key1 and two corresponding values Key1-Value1 and Key1-Value2. Asecond data entry may include a key Key2 and two corresponding valuesKey2-Value1 and Key2-Value2. A third data entry may include a key Key3and one corresponding value Key3-Value1. Thus, the data node 110 mayimplement a one-to-many mapping and/or a combination of one-to-one andone-to-many mapping.

Each data entry may correspond (map) to an object in an object store,and each value may store an address for the corresponding object. Formulti-value entries, each of the multiple values may store, for example,an address relating to an object having a different version, appendeddata, and/or the like.

The entries may be arranged within the page such that keys may be storedin contiguous locations in a first region 114 of the page, and valuesmay be stored in contiguous locations in a second region 116 of the pageas illustrated in FIG. 2. The first and second regions 114 and 116 maybe arranged such that, as keys and values are added to the page, theyadvance in opposite logical directions as shown by arrows 118 and 119,respectively.

Depending on the implementation details, this layout of keys and valuesmay enable efficient traversing of the entries within the page, forexample with a tree search. In some embodiments, entries within the pagemay be traversed with a simple binary search, hashed indexing, and/orany other search technique.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example embodiment of an index node according tothis disclosure. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 3, the index node120 may be implemented, for example, as a page in persistent storage.The index node 120 may also be maintained in volatile memory such asDRAM, for example, during a run-time. The index node 120 may be locatedone or more levels away from a data node and thus may be referred to asan internal node or, depending on the tree structure, a root node.

The layout of the index node 120 may include a page header 122 which mayinclude, for example, metadata about the page such as the page addresson a storage device, the number of keys or entries in the page, thelevel of the page in the mapping data structure, and/or the like. Theremainder of the page may be dedicated to index entries. In someembodiments, an index node may only include single-value entries. Inother embodiments, an index node may include single-value and/ormulti-value entries.

A first index entry may include a key Key1 and a corresponding valueValue1. A second index entry may include a key Key2 and a correspondingvalue Value2. A third index entry may include a key Key3 and acorresponding value Value3. Thus, the index node 120 may implement aone-to-one mapping. In other embodiments, an index node may implement aone-to-many mapping and/or a combination of one-to-one and one-to-manymapping.

In some embodiments, each index entry may correspond (map) to anotherindex node and/or index entry, or to a data node and/or data entry. Forexample, the value of an index entry may point to an address in DRAM ifthe node or entry to which it points resides on a page that is cached inmemory. As another example, the value of an index entry may point to anaddress in persistent storage if the node or entry to which it pointsresides in persistent storage.

In some embodiments, if an index node resides in nonvolatile memory, anyindex entry in that index node may point to an address in volatilememory or persistent storage, but if the index node resides inpersistent memory, any index entry in that index node may only point toan address in persistent storage. In other embodiments, an index entryin an index node may point to an address in any media, regardless ofwhere the index node resides.

As with the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2, the entries in theembodiment illustrated in FIG. 3 may be arranged within the page suchthat keys may be stored in contiguous locations in a first region 124 ofthe page, and values may be stored in contiguous locations in a secondregion 126 of the page. The first and second regions 124 and 126 may bearranged such that, as keys and values are added to the page, theyadvance in opposite logical directions as shown by arrows 128 and 129,respectively. Depending on the implementation details, this layout ofkeys and values may enable efficient traversing of the entries withinthe page, for example with a tree search. In some embodiments, entrieswithin the page may be traversed with a simple binary search, hashedindexing, and/or any other search technique.

In some embodiments, hybrid nodes and/or pages may be implemented. Ahybrid node and/or page may have a layout similar to a data node and/orpage as described above with respect to FIG. 2, but may also accommodateindex entries as described above with respect to FIG. 3. For example, ahybrid page may include single-value and/or multi-value data entries inwhich the values for the data entries include addresses for objects inan object store. However, a hybrid page may also include index entriesin which the values may point to other index nodes and/or entries, otherhybrid nodes and/or entries, and/or other data nodes and/or entries. Aswith data and/or index nodes and/or pages, a hybrid node and/or page maybe arranged with keys and values stored in contiguous locations inseparate regions, and the regions may be arranged such that, as keys andvalues are added to the node or page, they advance in opposite logicaldirections. In some embodiments, where an entry in a hybrid page hasmultiple values, and one of the multiple values may point to anothernode or entry, the first value may be used to index the other node orentry.

In some embodiments, a value for a data entry may include at least twocomponents: an address for a corresponding object in an object store,and a check code such as a cyclical redundancy check (CRC) code. In someembodiments, a value for an index entry may include at least onecomponent: an address or pointer to an index or data node and/or page involatile memory, persistent storage, and/or any other location. In otherembodiments, a value for any entry described herein may have more orfewer components.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example embodiment of traversal operation througha mapping data structure for an object store according to thisdisclosure. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 4, the data structuremay be implemented as a tree structure and may include a Level 0 or rootlevel index page 132, a Level 1 index page 134, and a Level 2 data page136.

A traversal may begin at the Level 0 (L0) or root level index page 132and may traverse through the index page 132 to reach a Level 0 valueL0-Value1 associated with a Level 0 key L0-Key1. L0-Value1 may point tothe Level 1 (L1) index page 134. The traversal may continue through theL1 index page 134 to reach a Level 1 value L-Value1 associated with aLevel 1 key L1-Key1. L1-Value1 may point to the Level 2 (L2) data page136. The traversal may continue though the L2 data page 136 and may endwhen it reaches Level 2 values L2-Key1-Value1 and L2-Key1-Value2associated with a Level 2 key L2-Key1.

FIG. 5 illustrates another example embodiment of traversal operationthrough a mapping data structure for an object store according to thisdisclosure. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 5, the data structuremay be implemented as a tree structure and may include a Level 0 or rootlevel hybrid page 138, a Level 1 hybrid page 140, and a Level 2 datapage 142.

A traversal may begin at the Level 0 (L0) or root level hybrid page 138and may traverse through the hybrid page 138 to reach a Level 0 valueL0-Key1-Value1 associated with a Level 0 key L0-Key1. The valueL0-Key1-Value1 may point to the Level 1 (L1) hybrid page 140. Thetraversal may continue through the L1 hybrid page 140 to reach a Level 1value L1-Key1-Value1 associated with a Level 1 key L1-Key1. The valueL1-Key1-Value1 may point to the Level 2 (L2) data page 142. Thetraversal may continue though the L2 data page 142 and may end when itreaches Level 2 values L2-Key1-Value1 and L2-Key1-Value2 associated witha Level 2 key L2-Key1.

FIG. 6 illustrates another example embodiment of a mapping datastructure for an object store according to this disclosure. The datastructure 144 illustrated in FIG. 6 may be based on a tree structuresuch as a B−tree, B+tree, radix tree, simple binary search tree, and/orthe like. The data structure 144 may by arranged in one or more groupssuch as placement groups (PGs). For example, a top-level mapping elementmay be implemented as an array 146 (e.g., a fixed array) which mayinclude pointers to mapping tree groups 148. Each group may include anynumber of nodes and/or levels. For example, a group may include a rootnode 149 (which may be implemented, e.g., as an index node, hybrid node,etc.), any number of additional inner nodes or layers of inner nodes(which may be implemented, e.g., as index nodes, hybrid nodes, etc.) andany number of leaf nodes (which may be implemented, e.g., as datanodes).

The number and/or types of nodes, layers, groups and/or the like maychange as the number and/or types of objects in the object storechanges. In some embodiments, the data structure may be implemented withdifferent data and/or search structures within groups. Each group may beimplemented with any number of levels, nodes, and/or the like. Moreover,different data structures may be implemented, per store, per drive, percluster, and/or the like.

In some embodiments, the type of data structure may be changeddynamically, for example, in response to changes in the type,arrangement, quantity, and/or the like, of objects stored in an objectstore. For example, in some embodiments, a data structure may initiallybe implemented and/or managed as a B+tree structure which may, forexample, simplify tree traversal. However, depending on conditions suchas how random and/or sparse key insertions are, a different structureand/or optimization may be implemented to manage space consumption, treedepth, key randomness, and/or the like.

In some embodiments, any type of queries may be supported within amapping data structure including range queries. Queries may be supportedwithin individual groups and/or combinations of groups, within theentire mapping data structure, and/or the like. Different data and/orsearch structures may be implemented for different groups, treebranches, nodes, and/or the like. In some embodiments, a B+tree maysimplify tree traversal, especially, for example, in range queries.

In some embodiments, one or more additional techniques may be applied toone or more portions of a mapping data structure. For example, in someembodiments, one or more keys may be hashed into a reduced number ofbits and used to traverse a leaf node, while an original key may be usedto search the leaf nodes. In such an example, a reduced number of bytesmaybe directly indexed into a static array to reach a tree such as aB+tree for a placement group as opposed to have a single tree. Dependingon the implementation details, such an arrangement may favor optimizedplacement group delete and/or queries within a placement group while theremainder of the tree nodes may be unaffected.

In some embodiments, page splits may be implemented based on the amountof space remaining on a leaf page, and/or page splits may be implementedbased on the order of a page in a B−tree node. In some embodiments, akey and all of its values may always be stored on one page. In someembodiments, a data page size may be selected to fit all of the entries(e.g., keys and values) in the same page. In other embodiments, acertain page size may be selected, and entries may be spread amongmultiple pages. Where multiple values may be spread between multiplepages, data page indirection may be used with extended data pages to mapthe extended values. In some embodiments, it may be beneficial toimplement nodes and/or pages in memory and/or persistent storage aspowers of 2 (i.e., 2^(N)), for example, 4K or 4096 (2¹²) bytes.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example embodiment of a system for mapping anobject store according to this disclosure. The system 170 illustrated inFIG. 7 may include a mapping data structure 172, a journal 174 and apaging manger 176. The mapping data structure 172 may be implementedusing any of the structures and/or techniques disclosed herein. Thejournal 174 may monitor run-time state and/or operations of the mappingdata structure 172, for example, to preserve the state during a powercycle, power failure, and/or the like. The paging manager 176 may managethe reading, writing, caching, flushing, and/or the like of nodes,entries, etc. in pages of persistent storage, volatile memory, and/orthe like. The paging manager 176 may include a reader module 178, acache module 180 and/or a flusher module 182. The paging manager 176 mayalso provide an interface to access persistent storage such as SSDaccess manager 184, and/or an interface to an extent manager 186 whichmay manage areas of memory, storage, and/or the like.

In some embodiments, and depending on the implementation details, theprinciples of this disclosure may provide any or all of the followingbenefits and/or features. A mapping data structure may provide supportfor multi-value entries and/or objects in an object store and mayprovide improved or optimized layout in persistent storage (e.g., anSSD) and/or memory (e.g., DRAM) data structures. Mapping page layout maybe optimized to support multiple values, where for example, keys may bepacked together and values may be packed together within the page in oneor more contiguous regions. Mapping page layout may be favorable forapplications and/or persistent storage devices, e.g., flash memory in anSSD. Latency may be reduced for one or more operations such as get,overwrite, erase and/or range erase and/or search operations. Writeamplification may be reduced. Random read and or write traffic topersistent storage devices may be reduced, and/or overall systemperformance may improve.

FIG. 8 illustrates an embodiment of a computing system according to thisdisclosure. The system 150 of FIG. 8 may be used to implement any or allof the methods and/or apparatus described in this disclosure. The system150 may include a central processing unit (CPU) 152, a user interface154, a network interface 156, volatile memory 158, storage 160, andpersistent memory 162. However, the principles of this disclosure arenot limited to implementation with any of the components illustrated inFIG. 8 but may be realized with any suitable hardware, software orcombinations thereof. In different embodiments, the system may omit anyof these components or may include duplicates, or any additional numbersof, any of the components, as well as any other types of components toimplement any of the methods and/or apparatus described in thisdisclosure.

The CPU 152 may include any number of cores, caches, bus and/orinterconnect interfaces and/or controllers. The volatile memory 158 mayinclude any arrangement of dynamic and/or static RAM, etc. The storage160 may include hard disk drives (HDDs), solid state drives (SSDs),and/or any other type of data storage devices or any combinationthereof. The persistent memory 162 may include any type of non-volatilememory device such as non-volatile dual in-line memory module (NVDIMM),multi-layered memory, battery backed RAM, etc.

The user interface 154 may include any type of human interface devicessuch as keyboards, mice, monitors, video capture or transmissiondevices, microphones, speakers, touchscreens, etc. as well as anyvirtualized or remote versions of such devices. The network interface156 may include one or more adapters or other apparatus to communicatethrough Ethernet, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or any other computer networkingarrangement to enable the components to communicate through physicaland/or logical networks, such as an intranet, the Internet, local areanetworks, wide area networks, etc.

Any or all of the components of the system 150 may be interconnectedthrough a system bus 164 which may collectively refer to variousinterfaces including power buses, address and data buses, high-speedinterconnects such as Serial AT Attachment (SATA), Peripheral ComponentInterconnect (PCI), Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCI-e),System Management Bus (SMB), and any other types of interfaces that mayenable the components to work together, either locally at one location,and/or distributed between different locations.

The system 150 may also include various chipsets, interfaces, adapters,glue logic, embedded controllers, such as programmable ornon-programmable logic devices or arrays, application specificintegrated circuits (ASICs), embedded computers, smart cards, and thelike, arranged to enable the various components of the system 150 towork together to implement any or all of the methods and/or apparatusdescribed in this disclosure. Any of the components of the system 150may be implemented with hardware, software, firmware, or any combinationthereof. In some embodiments, any or all of the components may berealized in a virtualized form and/or in a cloud-based implementationwith flexible provisioning of resources, for example within a datacenter, or distributed throughout multiple data centers.

The parts or steps of a method or algorithm and functions described inconnection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be embodieddirectly in hardware, in one or more software modules executed by aprocessor, or in a combination of the two, including in the system 150.If implemented in software, functions may be stored or transmitted asone or more instructions or code on a tangible, non-transitorycomputer-readable medium. A software module may reside in Random AccessMemory (RAM), flash memory, Read Only Memory (ROM), ElectricallyProgrammable ROM (EPROM), Electrically Erasable Programmable ROM(EEPROM), registers, hard disk, a removable disk, a CD ROM, or any otherform of storage medium. Any system disclosed herein, or component orportion thereof, may be implemented as a part of a software stack of alarger system. Any system disclosed herein, or component or portionthereof, may be implemented as its own software stack.

The embodiments disclosed above have been described in the context ofvarious implementation details, but the principles of this disclosureare not limited these or any other specific details. For example, somefunctionality has been described as being implemented by certaincomponents, but in other embodiments, the functionality may bedistributed between different systems and components in differentlocations and having various user interfaces. Certain embodiments havebeen described as having specific processes, steps, etc., but theseterms also encompass embodiments in which a specific process, step, etc.may be implemented with multiple processes, steps, etc., or in whichmultiple process, steps, etc. may be integrated into a single process,step, etc. A reference to a component or element may refer to only aportion of the component or element.

The use of terms such as “first” and “second” in this disclosure and theclaims may only be for purposes of distinguishing the things they modifyand may not indicate any spatial or temporal order unless apparentotherwise from context. A reference to a first thing may not imply theexistence of a second thing.

The various details and embodiments described above may be combined toproduce additional embodiments according to the inventive principles ofthis patent disclosure. Since the inventive principles of this patentdisclosure may be modified in arrangement and detail without departingfrom the inventive concepts, such changes and modifications areconsidered to fall within the scope of the following claims.

1. A method for mapping an object store, the method comprising: storinga data entry within a mapping page for an object in the object store;wherein the data entry comprises a key and a value, and the valuecomprises an address for the object in the object store.
 2. The methodof claim 1, wherein: the value is a first value, and the address is afirst address; the object in the object store comprises a multi-valueobject; and the data entry within the mapping page comprises a secondvalue, the second value comprising a second address for the object inthe object store.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the mapping page isstored in persistent storage.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein themapping page is maintained in volatile memory during a run-time.
 5. Themethod of claim 1, wherein: the data entry comprises a first data entry;the object comprises a first object; the method further comprisesstoring a second data entry within the mapping page for a second objectin the object store; the second data entry comprises a key and one ormore values for the second object in the object store; and the one ormore values for the second object comprise one or more addresses in theobject store.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein: the keys are stored incontiguous locations in a first region of the mapping page; and thevalues are stored in contiguous locations in a second region of themapping page.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the first and secondregions are arranged to advance in opposite logical directions withinthe mapping page as keys and values are added to the mapping page. 8.The method of claim 5, wherein the data entries are part of a mappingdata structure.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein: the mapping datastructure comprises nodes; and each node is stored within a mappingpage.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein: a first one of the nodescomprises a data node; and the data node comprises data entries forobjects in the object store.
 11. The method of claim 10, wherein: asecond one of the nodes comprises an index node; the index nodecomprises an index entry; and the index entry comprises a key and avalue, wherein the value of the index entry points to the data node. 12.The method of claim 11, wherein: the index node is a first index node,and the index entry is a first index entry; a third one of the nodescomprises a second index node; the second index node comprises a secondindex entry; and the second index entry comprises a key and a value,wherein the value of the second index entry points to the first indexnode.
 13. The method of claim 9, wherein: a first one of the nodescomprises a hybrid node; and the hybrid node comprises a data entry fora corresponding object in the object store.
 14. The method of claim 13,wherein: the hybrid node comprises an index entry; and the index entrycomprises a key and a value, wherein the value of the index entry pointsto a second one of the nodes.
 15. The method of claim 8, furthercomprising traversing the mapping data structure to access a data entryfor a corresponding object in the object store.
 16. A method for mappingan object store, the method comprising: maintaining a mapping datastructure comprising key-value entries; wherein a first one of thekey-value entries comprises a data entry including a key and a value,the value comprising an address for an object in the object store; andthe data entry is stored within a mapping page.
 17. The method of claim16, wherein: the mapping data structure comprises a tree structurehaving nodes; and each node is stored within a mapping page.
 18. Themethod of claim 17, wherein: a second one of the key value entriescomprises an index entry including a key and a value, the value pointingto the mapping page in which the data entry is stored.
 19. A mappingsystem for an object store, the mapping system comprising: a processorconfigured to store a data entry within a mapping page in persistentstorage for an object in the object store; wherein the data entrycomprises a key and a value, and the value comprises an address for theobject in the object store.
 20. The mapping system of claim 19, furthercomprising a paging manager configured to manage the mapping page.